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The 2017 Oscar Highlights (and That Shocking Twist Ending)!

Posted on February 27, 2017July 7, 2023 by execulink@creativeone

We get it—ain’t nobody got time to stay up and watch ALL of the Oscars on a Sunday night. It’s pretty long, and some of the speeches can be so dull they make you fall asleep. They certainly made Chrissy Teigen sleepy.

But it is Hollywood’s biggest and blingiest night, so we would be remiss if we didn’t go over some of the highlights this year.

First, we have to talk about that twist ending. What in the world happened? Just to get you up to speed in case you missed it, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced (after some hesitation) that “La La Land” had won for the coveted Best Picture award. Turns out, they were holding the card for Best Supporting Actress (in which Emma Stone won for La La Land). Oops. Big Oops.

In a cringeworthly series of events, and only after the La La Land producers were three speeches deep, the crowded stage of people were told by some frantic stagehands wearing headsets that there had been a mix-up, and revealed the Best Picture envelope. Sorry, La La Land, you’re living in… La La Land… Moonlight is stolel your… spotlight. Check out the full video below and try not to melt with awkwardness.

Luckily, the Internet blessed us with some cathartic humour out of the situation. A couple of my favourite tweets about the mix-up come from the king of twist-endings, M. Night Shayamalan, and the king of misread winner cards, Steve Harvey.

Ahh, thank you Internet! You can always be counted on to sprinkle some humour on an awkward situation. Now let’s move on because, believe or not, a few other things happened at the Oscars. For instance, Jimmy Kimmel did a great job as host. One of his best stunts of the night was bringing into the event a real, unsuspecting tour group, straight off their tour bus:

How lucky are these people!? Especially #GaryfromChicago who has instantly become 2017’s Ken Bone.

I think my favourite announcers of the night were hands-down Seth Rogen and Michael J. Fox, who popped out of a Delorean on stage while wearing self-lacing future boots from Back to the Future. They added a cherry on top by singing the Schuyler Sisters song from Hamilton, making everyone’s night, including Lin Manuel Miranda’s.

As far as the best fashion of the night, we saw a lot of gold glimmering in the camera flashes:

I think my personal favourite dress this year was Hailee Steinfeld’s super-elegant floral number from Ralph & Russo. It looks like she popped right out of a fairy tale.

Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

We also saw some Canadian glory last night, as Ontario’s Alan Barillaro won for Best Animated Short for Piper, and was even shown some kudos from the Prime Minister himself!

Congratulations, Alan and all the other winners of the night! You can find a full list of the winners here.

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4 Coolest Things About NASA’s New Discovery

Posted on February 22, 2017July 7, 2023 by execulink@creativeone

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It is seriously one of the coolest times to be alive. Today, NASA’s Spitzer Telescope revealed a monumental, ground-breaking discovery: the existence of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting around a single star.

Orbiting around an “ultra-cool dwarf star” that is smaller than Jupiter, these exoplanets exist in what’s commonly called the “Goldilocks zone”. That is, they exist in a fairly unique bit of space that’s not too cold, not too hot, but just right to be potentially habitable and most likely to have liquid water (aka Earth-like). Three out of the seven planets have the highest potential for liquid water, and the other four might too, depending on their atmospheric conditions.

View full image and caption

So this system of exoplanets (and by that I just mean any planets that don’t exist in our solar system), is called TRAPPIST-1, named after The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope in Chile. In May 2016, TRAPPIST announced they had discovered three planets in the system. Then, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope confirmed the existence of two of them and actually found five additional ones which were published today.

As if this entire discovery wasn’t cool enough, there are some pretty neat things to mention about these particular exoplanets.

View full image and caption

They are all REALLY close together. If a person was on one planet, they could potentially see geological features or clouds of neighbouring worlds, which would sometimes be larger than our moon. Can you imagine looking up and seeing the clouds of Venus and then nearby, the rings of Saturn? How cool!

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Half day, half night worlds. These planets are all tidally locked to their star, which means that the same side of the planet is always facing the star. Therefore, each side is either in perpetual day or perpetual night. The ramifications of that kind of boldly contrasting environment are mind-blowing. I wonder what kinds of creatures would live in the dark half, and which live in the light? Star Wars fans would have a field day there.

It’s Pretty Close To Us. If you were travelling at light speed (670 million miles per hour), it’s a mere 39 years from Earth. That sounds pretty far, but it’s actually relatively close to us in space-terms. Hop, skip and a jump really!

The Art. I just love how when these events happen, NASA provides really cool art and tools that really get across the impact and emotional response of these findings. I’ve included a lot of them in this post, but the retro-looking one below (of which there are many more you can print out and hang on your wall), is probably my favourite!

click to view full image

If you want to take your space exploration to the next level but don’t see yourself becoming an astronaut any time soon, check out this free desktop app from NASA. Using the “Eyes on Exoplanets” program, you can zoom to the outer reaches of our universe and explore new worlds, including TRAPPIST-1.

Until the next mind-blowing space discovery, happy exploring and keep looking up at those stars!

Sources:
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6270-ssc2017-01b-Abstract-Concept-of-TRAPPIST-1-System
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-telescope-reveals-largest-batch-of-earth-size-habitable-zone-planets-around
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/trappist1/

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Live Streaming of Kittens is the Cutest Reality TV Show

Posted on February 16, 2017July 7, 2023 by Christine Chalkley

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Reality television shows can be quite the guilty pleasure for a lot of people. Now here is the cutest reality show that you can stick your little peepers on today. ~~Keeping Up with the Kattarshians~~ follows 4 kittens living in a small dollhouse. This kitty cam created in Reykjavik, Iceland not only has the best title ever, but the doll house set up almost makes it look like the Big Brother set.

This kitty cam is produced by a local news site called Nútíminn along with The Icelandic Cat Protection Society. The goal of this project is to create awareness about stray cats and to get them adopted. These kittens are 9 weeks old and named Guðni, Stubbur, Briet and Ronja. 3 cameras are set up to watch these kitten play, jump and even sleep in their cat-sized bunk beds.

If you don’t have the time to binge watch these 3 live stream channels, you can catch the highlights on the Keeping Up with the Kattarshians Facebook page.

Now if you’re crazy for animal cams and want to watch different kinds of animals, you can check out Animal Planet’s Live or the Explore.org website. These websites feature many different live streams, such as pandas, sharks, penguins, an African watering hole, chicks and bunnies! You can even watch a family of cockroaches! EW!

So now that I have you hooked on watching Keeping Up with the Kattarshians, good luck on being productive I think this is a totally purrfect and pawesome way to be spending your time. Your kids will probably love it too… I know what I’ll be showing my daughter tonight!

Reference:
http://mashable.com/2017/02/16/kattarshians-kardashians-kittens-big-brother-live/#i3OOMm06SkqM

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Best, Worst, and Weirdest Grammy 2017 Moments

Posted on February 13, 2017July 7, 2023 by execulink@creativeone

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Didn’t have a chance to watch the biggest night in music? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. From the red carpet shenanigans, to the hosting, to the performances, the 2017 Grammy Awards were nothing if not good, bad, and weird. So with that in mind, let’s break it down!

Best of the Night

Beyonce’s full performance at the #GRAMMYs 2017. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/VRGRt3esEQ

— Wolé II (@Kingwole) February 13, 2017

Beyoncé

Beyoncé. That’s pretty much all you need to say now after any event she performs at, because that single word is synonymous with a unique, near-perfect, heart-bursting performance. This year was no exception, because despite having not one, but two babies in her belly, she gave us a golden, glittery showcase of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles”, two of the more vulnerable songs from her hit album, Lemonade. It was the perfect follow up to a recent Instagram post where she revealed her and Jay-Z’s pregnancy.

The whole performance was goddess-inspired—a symbolic representation of divine motherhood. And like any deity, she literally defied gravity (and almost gave me a heart attack), as she tipped all the way back to a horizontal position on a wooden chair. I can’t say enough about this performance—her vocals were spot on, her wardrobe was godly, her dancers were ethereal, and she even included her mom and daughter in the performance, noting three generations of womanly awesomeness. Her amazingness doesn’t stop there though. We’ll get back to Queen Bae before this post is out.

Katy Perry

I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of Kitty Kat, but last night’s performance was one of the best of the night. She didn’t knock it out of the park on the vocals, but the artistic set design and well thought-out message behind the performance was quite unique. She danced around a rotating square stage lined by a picket fence that changed from white to mirror-faced. Her dancers moved her and the set around so that it played tricks with your eyes, and the effect was mesmerizing. In the end, the set “exploded” into a million shapes, and the Declaration of Independence was cast on the leftovers of the picket fence. Pretty cool way to get your point across, Katy! Also, this song is REALLY growing on me.

Bruno Mars and the Prince Tribute

Although Bruno isn’t quite at Beyoncé’s showmanship level yet, you can be sure that when you hear he’s performing, it’s going to be incredible. His second performance of the night was a tribute to Prince, who died in April of last year. The songs delivered by Bruno Mars and The Time were a perfect representation of Prince’s funky style, funky sass, and funky… FUNK! It’s hard not to dance to this performance. I think the best and most surprising part (for me at least), was when Bruno Mars lit up that white guitar with a face-melting solo! Um, am I the only one that didn’t realize that Bruno Mars could WAIL on the electric guitar? This guy has too much talent for one man.

Chance The Rapper on stage with Kirk Franklin and Tamela Mann at the #GRAMMYs 2017 pic.twitter.com/nTHfZgfGxT

— Wolé II (@Kingwole) February 13, 2017

Chance the Rapper

If you want to see a strong, high-energy, performance with ultra-poignant lyrics and some insane backup vocalists, look no further. Not only did Chance and gospel singer Kirk Franklin put on an incredible show, but Chance’s music will go down in history as the first streaming-only releases considered for Grammy awards. Kudos to you, Chance!

And now we come to The Worst of the Night…

Photo courtesy of: http://www.standard.co.uk

Carpool Karaoke Crashed

I get the feeling that James Corden was trying to do his own version of Ellen’s hugely popular Oscar tweet as he grabbed a bunch of celebrities and put them in a cut-out version of his Carpool Karaoke van. But the only thing people are saying about this little stunt was how awkward it was that no one knew the words to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline! If there was a script, it went like this:

James Corden: Take it away, Faith Hill!

Faith Hill: (silence, awkward smiling)

James Corden: Alright never mind, take it away, John Legend!

John Legend: (silence, awkward smiling)

James Corden: (Internally) You guys are the worst.

Seriously, though. How does everybody not know the lyrics to this song??? I bet James Corden is asking himself the same question today.

Technical Flubs

Speaking of James Corden, his opening gag of technical flubs (his riser stopped rising mid-way, he fell down the stairs, etc.) seemed to be a premonition of an awkward night of this stuff happening for realsies. Metallica and Lady Gaga (aka Metalligaga) had it the worst, as lead singer James Hedfield’s mic was broken, leaving him singing silently to the crowd before joining up with Gaga on her mic. Thank goodness she wasn’t using a headset or he might have been in real trouble. Then, Adele experienced difficulties in her tribute to George Michael, and eventually had to restart the song. I’m not sure if that was a technical flub or a singer not grabbing the right first note, but either way, it led to an unprecedented restart of a performance, as well as an awkward F-bomb on live TV. Sheesh…

Adele

While we’re on Adele, I just have to express my disappointment with her performances. The tribute to George Michael was an obvious disaster, but she ended up redeeming herself to a point. That being said, it was coupled with an underwhelming performance of “Hello” to open the show, which is a song we’ve heard a million times by now. Why not spice it up a bit or show us something different? She was also fairly pitchy and after last year’s lackluster Grammy performance (where she also experienced technical difficulties), you would think she would want to truly knock it out of the park this time. All I’m saying is, maybe a bit more rehearsal was needed? She is not like other pop stars who can rely on dancing or set design to get by. She is known for her amazing voice. But if she can’t deliver on that… I know she can though, so hopefully she redeems herself in future award shows or performances.

Beyoncé NOT Winning

And ANOTHER THING! Uh oh, this rant is continuing. I really do love Adele, I swear! But I think everyone pretty much agrees that Beyoncé should have won for the album of the year with Lemonade. I think even Adele knew it, as she gushed over Queen Bae through a large portion of her acceptance speech and even brought B. to tears. She pretty much Kanye Wested herself. “Imma let you finish Adele but… !”

And Now the Weirdest Stuff of the Night…

Cee Lo Gold?

The weirdest things are always the outfits, and the person who won the Weirdest Outfit award this year was… Cee Lo Green of all people. Cee Lo, you’re doing gold wrong. You might want to hit up Beyoncé for tips on that.

Took Too Many Pills in Ibiza

Mike Posner, the singer behind “Took a Pill in Ibiza”, won the bizarre interview award as he decided not to reply to his interviewers, but rather speak through his collaborator, known as “Blackbear”. The fact that they were both sporting Jokeresque neon-green hair was the least weird thing about them. Check out the below video and try not to squirm with awkwardness too much.

Photo courtesy of: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARASSource:Getty Images

Twenty One in Undies

This was weird, but kind of cute (ish?) when you hear the story behind it. So Twenty One Pilots won for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and promptly took their pants off and accepted their award in their underwear. Yes, their underwear – the reasoning behind it? They told the audience that they used to watch the Grammys in their underwear at home, and they promised each other that if they ever won, they would accept the award just the same way. I can only imagine the head shaking their parents are doing.

These weird moments might be the reason Rihanna brought a flask to the show.

There you have it folks: another year of Grammy Awards for the books. We hope you enjoyed this run-down of the best, worst and weirdest moments of the night. See you next year!

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Pizza ATM’s are the Future of Pizza

Posted on February 9, 2017May 30, 2023 by Christine Chalkley

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February 9^th is National Pizza Day. Are you as excited about this as I am? So what better way to honour this wonderful day then to talk about the future of pizza. Paline’s Pizza ATM could be coming to a university campus near you. Yes, you read that right— an ATM that instead of dispensing cash, dispenses pizza, 24/7. This is just want a student needs, access to hot pizza at any time, day or night. This kind of pizza would have been a hot commodity while I was going to school. Back when I was a student I probably would be ordering this pizza maybe once, twice or quite possibly everyday of the week. *blush*.Please don’t judge me; pizza is just delicious, ok?

Here’s ~~how it works~~: a pizzeria would prepare and pre-cook the base of the pizza. The pizzas are put in boxes and up to 70 pizzas can be stored at a time in the Pizza ATM. When someone purchases a pizza from the ATM the pizza would cook in the convention oven for 3 minutes. Once the pizza is cooked it will come out of the dispenser ready to eat. Quick and easy! The computer also manages the best before dates and once a pizza has met the best before date it cannot be distributed. Customers can also purchase uncooked pizza and take it home to cook themselves.

Paline’s Pizza ATM currently has about 300 locations available in Europe. Xavier University in Cininnati, Ohio was the first location in North America to have the Pizza ATM installed. With interest from other schools from North America, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Canada gets their first location.

So on this special day of national pizza affection, go grab yourself a slice, or even a whole pizza – I won’t judge! Mmm, I’m pretty hungry now–so does someone want to go get me a pizza?

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The Story Behind Those 300 Drones in Gaga’s Halftime Performance

Posted on February 6, 2017May 30, 2023 by execulink@creativeone

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Apparently some people played football at Superbowl LI this weekend but I was too busy being set on fire by Lady Gaga’s halftime performance to notice. Not only did she actually sing the entire set (no lip-synching for her), and entirely on her own (no guest performances either), but she also propelled down from the ceiling, danced almost non-stop for 13 minutes, and jumped off a ladder in heels while catching a football. I feel tired just writing that.

One of the best parts of the performance wasn’t achieved by Gaga at all, but by science! And by that, I mean the 300 drones that floated behind her at the start of her set while she sang God Bless America. Though only there for a couple minutes, those little robots performed their own perfect show in the sky: first sparkling like stars, then like the Pepsi symbol, then like the American flag.

So who’s behind this technology? Well, that would be Intel, and it’s called their Shooting Star drone squad. They recently finished a three-week run at Disney World and last year they flew 500 synchronized drones over Sydney, setting a new world record for most unmanned aerial vehicles airborne at the same time.

Take a look at Intel’s video showing off their 500 Drone light show below:

Pretty incredible right? I want to go to a drone show ASAP. I love how they can float like fairies at one moment, and then in another sync up to create a flawless design like the Intel logo.

As Wired’s recent post details, each drone is about a footlong square, weighs just over eight ounces, and has a foam body to soften any inadvertent blows. Their LEDs have a potential four billion colour combinations and “dance” according to the coding from a central computer that each drone communicates with. Before the show, this computer checks each drone’s battery level and GPS signal strength and assigns it a role accordingly. If any of them fail, there are backups ready to fly into place. You can see how this kind of technology could be limitless, and I wouldn’t be surprised if instead of fireworks on our national holidays, we start seeing drone-works.

That being said, there are laws concerning drones, including where and how high you can fly them. That’s why the drone display you saw yesterday was actually filmed a week ago, so as not to harm any potential fans below.

When you realize the planning and combined efforts that must have gone into that first couple of minutes of this performance, you realize how huge the Superbowl halftime show has become. I can only imagine where it will go in the future.

Not to mention where this drone technology will go. Intel envisions them being used for search and rescue missions or commercial applications like inspecting hazardous construction sites. Personally, I see their creative potential, and can envision spectacles of art and “sky graffiti” lighting up the night. I just hope they don’t fall on anyone’s head.

Check out Lady Gaga’s full halftime show here.

Sources: https://www.wired.com/2017/02/lady-gaga-halftime-show-drones/

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5 Ways to Host a Great Super Bowl Party

Posted on February 3, 2017July 7, 2023 by Christine Chalkley

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This Sunday is Super Bowl 51 in Houston, Texas. In case you didn’t know, The New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons will be playing in this NFL championship game. Canadians love the Super Bowl. Last year, 8.3 million people in Canada watched the Super Bowl! Those are some huge numbers, that means 1 in 4 people in all of Canada watched the game. If you’re planning on watching the big game or planning to host a Super Bowl party, Here are a couple of ideas that can help you prepare for the big night of football festivities.

1. Food

If you are hosting a Super Bowl Party then you need to think about what food you will be serving your guests. Some of the basic game day foods are chips, wings and pizza. While those are some great options for grub, why not theme your food and make everything look like footballs? Try this Jalapeno Popper Football Cheese Ball or make a Football Cheese Plate? For desserts you can try these Chocolate Strawberry Footballs or Football Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Blondies. If you are looking for healthier options, Canadian Living posted these recipes for Turkey Chili Nachos or for a Mexican Popcorn Spice Mix.

2. Bevvies

Now any good party host not only provides the food, but has beverages to serve their guests as well. The most common alcoholic beverages to serve would be beer and wine. But you can do better than that, right? Here are some beer cocktails that would turn you into the hostess with the mostest! Beer Margaritas, Beer Sangria, Lime Beer Cocktail and Frozen Beergaritas.

3. Games

These Super Bowl Party games will help keep your guest entertained during the 4 hour game. Super Bowl Squares is a simple game that all your guests can play. First you’ll need to create a chart (here are some printable versions that you can use). Have your guests write their name on each of the squares until the whole board is filled. On the axes, assign each row and column with different numbers ranging from 0-9. So after each quarter, the person who owns the square with the final digit of the point total of each team is declared the winner. For example, if the score of the game is 27-2 then the person with the square 7-2 would be the winner.

Another game to play is Super Bowl Bingo. Here are some ~~free game cards~~ that you can print at home.

4. Pick your commercials!

This year will be the first time Canadians will be able to watch the American Super Bowl commercials. The CRTC made a decision to remove the simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl event. In prior years, this meant that the Canadian broadcaster airing the Super Bowl was able to show the Canadian commercials over the American signal. This year, you will be able to watch the Super Bowl on either the Canadian signal(with Canadian commercials), or the American signal(with American commercials). The cost of a commercial to run in America is around $5 million for a :30 spot. With a budget like that, no wonder these commercials have high end productions and celebrity cameos!

Here’s is a sneak peek of some of the American commercials that you will be able to catch this year:

2017 Kia Niro “Hero’s Journey” Starring Melissa McCarthy

This commercial follows comedian Melissa McCarthy on a mission to save the world.

Febreze 2017 Super Bowl Commercial – Halftime #BathroomBreak

This extended cut of this funny Febreeze commercial tells the story on how so many people watch the game so intently that they wait until halftime for a bathroom break.

Wix.com Big Game First Spot with Jason Statham & Gal Gadot

This commercial for Wix.com features Jason Statham & Gal Gadot kicking some butt in a restaurant.

T-Mobile – #UnlimitedMoves

This commercial features Canadian Justin Bieber showing off some dance moves.

Snicker Live Ad with Adam Driver

Snickers will be doing something new this year and creating a live commercial to air in real time starring “Star Wars” actor, Adam Driver. They have released some funny teasers to promote their live ad.

5. Practice Your Dance Moves

And lastly, what is a Super Bowl without a big spectacular Half Time show? This year Lady Gaga will be performing. Lady Gaga is known for her crazy outfits and over the top and sometimes controversial performances. She wants to keep her performance a secret, so no spoilers here on what songs she will sing or what stunts she will be performing. Here’s a sneak peek at the choreography rehearsals.

There is no doubt that this year’s Super Bowl will be a must watch for millions of Canadians. Super Bowl 51 starts at 6:30 pm on Sunday February 5^th, and can be seen on CTV or Fox. Execulink customers can watch the game in SD on channel 13 and 16 or in HD on channels 213 and 216.

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10 Ways to Make The Most Out of Your Next Networking Event

Posted on February 1, 2017July 7, 2023 by execulink@creativeone

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Molly goes to a networking event and meets Gerald. “So, Gerald, what do you do?” asks Molly. Gerald waits a second to respond. He has a million different ways he can answer this question and if the goal is to create a contact or lead, then there is absolutely a right way and a wrong way. But there’s more to networking than just how you interact with people conversationally. To get the most out of your next networking event, the work is done not just during the event, but before and after as well. Here are the 10 best ways you can get the most out of your next one.

1. Know Why You’re There Before You’re There

Why are you going to this event? It may be such an obvious first step that it’s hardly thought about, but it really does deserve some consideration. If you feel like a fish out of water the entire day, you’re not going to be on your A game, and that means less chance of any real connections. Also, it’s worth asking yourself if the event is actually going to be a valuable investment of your time. In general, you should be able to answer the following questions with relative ease:

How does my job and company specifically relate to this event?
What are my goals (make them specific)?
Do the potential benefits of this event outweigh the cost of time being here?
How long am I prepared to be here for?

Once you can answer these, it will become obvious whether this event is worth your time.

2. Do Your Research

Ok, so you’ve decided you’re attending. Now what? A little preparation goes a long way. It’s a great idea to make a rough outline of what your day will consist of. This includes which speakers you want to hear, which booths you want to check out, and who you might want to introduce yourself to. You can usually get a rough idea of who might be attending from social media. If there’s a Facebook event attached to it, you could find the attendee list there or from people tweeting about it via a common hashtag.

If you want to go the extra mile, have a question or two ready based on your research of the highlighted panelist. Asking your question in front of a crowd will leave a lasting impression in people’s minds as someone who is both knowledgeable about his/her field and bold enough to be centered out in a crowd.

3. Be Ready With Materials

Looking unprepared obviously gives off a bad impression and can lead to an awkward interaction, but it also affects your confidence and throws you off your game overall. Nobody wants that. So it’s important to come to your events prepared with any materials you might need. Business cards are a must, obviously, but don’t forget other palpable reminders of what you do: sell sheets, brochures, swag. Make sure everything has your contact information on it and that it’s going to stand out in the pile of endless marketing material that people will receive that day.

4. Dress to Impress (For the Crowd)

There’s an enormous difference between trying to impress 100 management-level executives and trying to impress 100 entry-level game developers. Dress to impress the crowd that you’re interacting with. A harsh reality of our world is that people do judge a book by its cover. That being said, you don’t want to be someone you’re not, as people can often sense if you’re being phony. As long as you don’t overdo it, you should be fine.

5. Prepare an Elevator Pitch

At these kinds of events you meet a lot of people in a short amount of time. You’re going to want to have a quick pitch ready of who you are and what you do. However, be careful when you say it that it doesn’t sound like you’ve been repeating yourself all day. Remind yourself that the other person is hearing this for the first time, so make it sound fresh. If you’re unsure of what your pitch should sound like, here are a few guideline steps you can follow:

For starters, it should be around 60 seconds. In that time you should go over who you are, what you do, and the hook.

Step 1 – Start with the basics. This is who I am and this is what I do (in simplest terms). “Hi, I’m Gerald Smith and I’m a Marketing Rep with Biz Co.” You don’t need anything too flashy; you just need to get your foot in the door.
Step 2 – Tell an interesting story that leads to the reason for you being there. “I’m excited to learn more about online marketing. This year we found our sales go up 5% just from tweets and keeping an eye on what’s trending.”
Step 3 – Drop a casual call to action. This is important. “I figure if I can do learn a bit and make a few connections while I’m at it, it’s worth the trip. Speaking of which, let me give you my card.”

Of course, you want to make it your own and be comfortable with it. Once you figure it out, practice, practice, practice.

6. Let Other People Talk

Almost as important as having a pitch is the other side of things: asking questions and listening. What is a typical year like in their business? What has their year been like? How did ____ affect their business? Keep it topical and interesting, but not invasive. By asking and understanding their business, you may uncover needs that they didn’t even know they had.

7. Spice Up Your Small Talk

The only thing worse than being stuck in a boring conversation with someone, is realizing that you’re the one making it boring. If you say the same shtick over and over you’re going to start sounding like a dull, skipping record. Make sure you sprinkle a little fun into your conversations. Ask yourself from time to time if you’re really engaging with this person or just going through the motions.

8. Be Passionate & Care About What You Do

An easy way to spice up your small talk is to just be passionate about what you do. Talking to someone that is truly excited about their work –or excited to improve on their work—is at once captivating and contagious. When people hear the excitement in your voice, they will be more eager to share their story with you and value your feedback.

9. Don’t be Negative

It’s easy to be negative and start pointing out what’s wrong with the event, the people there, your job, your competitors. Don’t start down that road. Not only are negative people less charismatic, but they are also less interesting. You’re doing yourself 0 favors by being “that person”. Even if you have to force yourself a little bit, put a smile on and see how much further it gets you.

10. Follow up

The event may be over but there is still work to be done. The next day, gather up any business cards or contact information you’ve received and get typing. Email your contacts and be sure to include your LinkedIn profile so they can see who you are and remember you. By circling back with people you are giving yourself an advantage over the potential crowds that person met the day before.

We hope that some of these tips help you at your next networking event. Just remember, you’re spending the time to be there, so make it worth those lost hours. Although a bit of a chore sometimes, with the right preparation and attitude you can make those brief encounters into lasting impressions.

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Best of YouTube Videos January

Posted on January 30, 2017July 7, 2023 by Christine Chalkley

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It’s the first Best of YouTube post in 2017! This month we have a mix of popular videos ranging from music videos, challenges and pranks. So sit back, relax, press play and watch some of the fun videos that came out in January.

Power Rangers (2017 Movie) Official Trailer
21,944,920 views

A trailer for the new “Power Rangers” came out and it gave a look into the story of five high school kids who gain superpowers and go out to save the world. Now these Power Rangers look way cooler than the campy 90’s version that you probably remember. Even if you weren’t a fan of the original 90’s show, this movie looks like it’s aimed at all fans of superhero movies.

Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (Official Video)
20,657,032 views

This is Ed Sheeran’s first music video from his upcoming new album set to release on March 3rd. Ed Sheeran is known for his catchy story telling songs. “Castle on the Hill” is a trip down memory lane as he reminisces about being a teenager and hanging out with friends. The video is shot in Ed’s hometown of Framlingham, England and cast with teenagers from a local high school. Wow, how did they manage to find Ed Sheeran’s doppelganger to play his younger self? Good casting choice!

Sia – Move your Body
12,147,559 views

I love the song “Move Your Body” by Sia! Every time I hear this song it just makes me want to get up and dance. The music video is an 80’s throwback featuring a young dancer wearing Sia’s signature black and white bob wig. The young child dances around and photobombs people’s glamour shots. Do you remember glamour shots? This was a huge trend in the 80’s when a person would get a glammed up makeover with big hair and makeup for a studio photoshoot. Just google “80’s Glamour Shots” and you’ll see some gem photographs like this one below.

We Trained Like Superheroes For 30 Days
12,063,952 views

Have you ever wondered how celebrities get those ridiculously good looking bodies for those superhero movies? These two people were challenged to train with a personal trainer for 5 weeks to attempt to look like their favourite superhero. They changed their diet and dedicated themselves to working out. After 5 weeks they had some dramatic results. Kudos to them for working as hard as they did! This looks like a cool challenge but I would never have the will power to give up cheese. I will have to just live with my muffin top for the rest of my life.

BuzzFeedVideo $27 Cake Vs. $1,120 Cake
11,756,463 views

This video is my favourite of all the videos on this list today. I love eating cake and watching this video made me so hungry! These two guys compared 3 cakes at different price points to find which cake was the best. The first cake they tried is a Milk’N Berries cake from a Cuban bakery for $27. This cake is right up my alley; it’s a tres leches cake with fresh berries, yum! The second cake is Espresso Chocolate cake from a Los Angeles bakery for $48. This cake is a devil’s food cake with espresso buttercream. The last cake is a custom celebration cake for $1,120. This is one fancy posh cake! It’s a funfetti cake with strawberry buttercream designed to look like a birthday present. It looks way too fancy to eat! Try to get through this video without indulging in a pastry! Now if anyone can recommend where I can find a tres leches cake for me locally please?

Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Trailer
10,890,973 views

Super Mario Odyssey is Nintendo’s latest Super Mario game that is due to come out late 2017 for the new Nintendo Switch console. This game looks like it would be super fun to play. In this 3D game Mario ventures into a New York style city climbing buildings, jumping on taxi cabs and swinging off traffic lights. And even watch out in this trailer for Mario’s rocking dance moves. Now I am not into gaming at all, but this latest Super Mario game looks like it could even get me hooked on playing it.

Rings – TV Store Prank
7,526,941 views

This prank was made to promote the new “Rings” movie that comes out in theatres February 3^rd. In this video, we watch unsuspecting customers totally freak out when the creepy dead girl from the “Rings” movie pops out of a TV to scare them. I always wondered what my reaction would be if I ended up on a hidden camera show. I’ll admit that I’m a total wuss and I can’t watch any scary movies, so I would probably be beyond horrified if this prank were to happen to me. And no, this isn’t an invitation for anyone to pull a prank on me to find out how I would react.

Jimmy Fallon’s Golden Globes Cold Open6,542,732 views

Jimmy Fallon hosted the 74^th Annual Golden Globes this past month. This year’s opening number was full of celebrities including Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Ryan Reynolds, Kit Harrington, the cast of “Stranger Things” and Tina Fey. Jimmy Fallon’s BFF Justin Timberlake also made an appearance in a “La La Land” spoof. Watch out for Justin Timberlake’s spot on impression of Jimmy Fallon.

Will & Grace – The Reunion is Coming1,695,881 views

What fan doesn’t love it when their favourite show has a reunion? We’ve seen it recently with the television show Gilmore Girls coming back for a new season on Netflix. Now here is another show making a comeback 11 years after their series finale. “Will & Grace” is coming back with a new 10 episode season on NBC in 2017. I am the most excited about this reunion show! I watched this show every Thursday night while it was on air. Jack and Karen’s characters are some of my favourite television characters. During this show’s 8 season run there were tons memorable celebrity guest starts like Madonna, Cher, Matt Damon, Jennifer Lopez, and Michael Douglas. I would hope the new season is filled with lots of surprise guest stars too. Catch this show on NBC in their 2017-2018 television season.

This concludes the January’s edition of our Best of YouTube Videos of the Month series. We hope you enjoyed your time with us, and we’ll see you again next month!

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#MORE_GoodNews Kudos and Comments

Posted on January 23, 2017May 30, 2023 by execulink@creativeone

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Last Thursday we surprised many of our customers by reducing the rates of their Internet packages considerably, which was a great feeling for both us and them! What made us smile most was reading the flood of positive comments from you about the discounted rates.

Bravo ! Execulink you have just secured a customer for a long time . I actually thought it was some sort of scam but after talking to customer service i was informed that my bill has been reduced by $30.00 a month effective immediately …Well done and thank you !
–Glenn D.

I have been a customer for many years. I wouldn’t change for anything as your customer service and plans are the best. Thank you Execulink.
–Lenene H.

YAY Execulink!! I always recommend you to people who ask about ISPs. Now I have even more reason to spread the word! Execulink is great!
–Carolyn H.

You guys haven’t let me down in the last 12 or so years
–Sean H.

Such a nice surprise it was to hear this in my email. Thanks for the good news and for being the best ISP.
–Shy C.

I was so happy to see my email today about the lower rates, you all rock and I thank you very much!
–Anna L.

Thank you #execulink you’ve restored my faith!!
–David H.

You’re the best! Thank you!
-Kathy K.

Some people even noticed that they could keep paying what they were before the discount, but upgrade their package to get a better speed or usage rate!

yes i got the 100 meg package now ty CRTC 🙂 and cheaper then the 30 meg package i was getting
–Pete D.

Thanks, Execulink! I was already thinking of upgrading my package, now I have an even better reason to! Very happy customer.
–Tiffany R.

If you’re interested in upgrading your package or adding another service to your bundle, take a look at some of our plans here.

From all of us here at Execulink, thank you for all your kind comments. We love when we can give back to our neighbours this way and hope to fill this year with #MORE_GoodNews.

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Best of the Night

Beyoncé

Katy Perry

Bruno Mars and the Prince Tribute

Chance the Rapper

And now we come to The Worst of the Night…

Carpool Karaoke Crashed

Technical Flubs

Adele

Beyoncé NOT Winning

And Now the Weirdest Stuff of the Night…

Cee Lo Gold?

Took Too Many Pills in Ibiza

Photo courtesy of: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARASSource:Getty Images

Twenty One in Undies

1. Know Why You’re There Before You’re There

2. Do Your Research

3. Be Ready With Materials

4. Dress to Impress (For the Crowd)

5. Prepare an Elevator Pitch

6. Let Other People Talk

7. Spice Up Your Small Talk

8. Be Passionate & Care About What You Do

9. Don’t be Negative

10. Follow up

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